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What's a book you wish you could read again for the very first time?
Book mentions in this thread
Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens
#1 New York Times Bestseller A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick "I can't even express how much I love this book! I didn't want this story to end!"--Reese Witherspoon "Painfully beautiful."--The New York Times Book Review "Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver."--Bustle For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens. Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.Votes: 9
Anna Karenina
by graf Leo Tolstoy
Presents the nineteenth-century Russian novelist's classic in which a young woman is destroyed when she attempts to live outside the moral law of her societyVotes: 5
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of the British Regency. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near London.Page 2 of a letter from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra (11 June 1799) in which she first mentions Pride and Prejudice, using its working title First Impressions.Set in England in the early 19th century, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters after the rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with the second-eldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth.Though Austen set the story at the turn of the 19th century, it retains a fascination for modern readers, continuing near the top of lists of "most loved books." It has become one of the most popular novels in English literature, selling over 20 million copies, and receives considerable attention from literary scholars. Modern interest in the book has resulted in a number of dramatic adaptations and an abundance of novels and stories imitating Austen's memorable characters or themes.The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
This lavish gift edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic features cover art, illustrations, and watercolor paintings by the artist Alan Lee. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum. Written for J.R.R. Tolkien's own children, The Hobbit has sold many millions of copies worldwide and established itself as a modern classic.Votes: 4
The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
Traces the unlikely friendship of a wealthy Afghan youth and a servant's son, in a tale that spans the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy through the atrocities of the present day.To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice—but the weight of history will only tolerate so much. One of the best-loved classics of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has earned many dis-tinctions since its original publication in 1960. It has won the Pulitzer Prize, been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, and been made into an enormously popular movie. It was also named the best novel of the twentieth century by librarians across the country (Library Journal).Wonder
by R. J. Palacio
Now an Oscar nominated film starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay. 'My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.' Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things - eating ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside. But ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids aren't stared at wherever they go. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all? WONDER is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.Votes: 3
A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara
"A little life, follows four college classmates --broke, adrift, and bouyed only by their friendship and ambition--as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara's stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves." --Back coverThe Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
The "brilliant, funny, meaningful novel" (The New Yorker) that established J. D. Salinger as a leading voice in American literature--and that has instilled in millions of readers around the world a lifelong love of books. "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caufield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days.Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn
For use in schools and libraries only. When a woman goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, her diary reveals hidden turmoil in her marriage, while her husband, desperate to clear himself of suspicion, realizes that something more disturbing than murder may have occurred.Votes: 3
Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon
THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING OUTLANDER SERIES. As seen on Amazon Prime TV. What if your future was the past? 1946, and Claire Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank. It’s a second honeymoon, a chance to learn how war has changed them and to re-establish their loving marriage. But one afternoon, Claire walks through a circle of standing stones and vanishes into 1743, where the first person she meets is a British army officer - her husband’s six-times great-grandfather. Unfortunately, Black Jack Randall is not the man his descendant is, and while trying to escape him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Scottish outlaws, and finds herself a Sassenach - an outlander - in danger from both Jacobites and Redcoats. Marooned amid danger, passion and violence, her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives. (Previously published as Cross Stitch)Votes: 3
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Bronte
The text of the novel is based on the first edition of 1847.A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses)
by Sarah J. Maas
Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court – but at a steep cost. Though she now possesses the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people. Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, the mesmerising High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates his dark web of political games and tantalising promises, a greater evil looms – and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can step into her growing power, heal her fractured soul and have the courage to shape her own future – and the future of a world cloven in two. Sarah J. Maas is a global #1 bestselling author. Her books have sold more than nine million copies and been translated into 37 languages. Discover the sweeping romantic fantasy for yourself.A Prayer for Owen Meany
by John Irving
'A work of genius' Independent 'Marvellously funny . . . What better entertainment is there than a serious book which makes you laugh?' Spectator 'If you care about something you have to protect it. If you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.' Eleven-year-old Owen Meany, playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire, hits a foul ball and kills his best friend's mother. Owen doesn't believe in accidents; he believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is both extraordinary and terrifying.Living to Tell the Tale. Gabriel Garca Mrquez
by Gabriel Garc-A Mrquez
Nobel prize winner and author of One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells a tale of an unrequited love that outlasts all rivals in his masterpiece Love in the Time of Cholera. 'It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love' Fifty-one years, nine months and four days have passed since Fermina Daza rebuffed hopeless romantic Florentino Ariza's impassioned advances and married Dr Juvenal Urbino instead. During that half-century, Florentino has fallen into the arms of many delighted women, but has loved none but Fermina. Having sworn his eternal love to her, he lives for the day when he can court her again. When Fermina's husband is killed trying to retrieve his pet parrot from a mango tree, Florentino seizes his chance to declare his enduring love. But can young love find new life in the twilight of their lives? 'The most important writer of fiction in any language' Bill Clinton 'An exquisite writer, wise, compassionate and extremely funny' Sunday Telegraph 'An amazing celebration of the many kinds of love between men and women' The TimesCharlotte's Web (Trophy Newbery)
by E. B. White
This beloved book by E. B. White, author of Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan, is a classic of children's literature that is "just about perfect." Illustrations in this ebook appear in vibrant full color on a full-color device and in rich black-and-white on all other devices. Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter. E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come. It contains illustrations by Garth Williams, the acclaimed illustrator of E. B. White's Stuart Little and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, among many other books.Life After Life
by Raymond Moody
In this smash bestseller that has sold more than 14 million copies around the world, Dr Moody reveals his ground-breaking study of people who experienced 'clinical death' - and were revived. Their amazing testimonies and surprising descriptions of 'death' and 'beyond' are so strikingly similar, so vivid and so overwhelmingly positive they have changed the way we view life and death, and the spiritual hereafter. Introducing the revolutionary concepts of the NDE (Near Death Experience), the bright light and the tunnel, Life After Life has shaped countless reader’s notions about the meaning of the death and offered essential reassurance to anyone who has wondered 'what comes next'? The 40th anniversary edition of this seminal classic is revised with a new Foreword by Eben Alexander, author of Proof of Heaven and a new Afterword by the authorVotes: 2
Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry
Looking for Alaska
by John Green
The authors definitive edition of this unmissable first novel from bestselling and award-winning author of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN. Contains: • a brand-new introduction from John Green • never-before-seen passages from original manuscript • a Q&A with the author, responding to fans’ favourite questionsOn Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
by Ocean Vuong
"Brilliant, heartbreaking, tender, and highly original - poet Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a sweeping and shattering portrait of a family, and a testament to the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born--a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam--and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity"--One Night With Him
by CD Reiss
Jonathan Drazen is a known womanizer and a gorgeous piece of man, but I'm not letting him into my heart. Ever. Yeah, he's rich, beautiful, charming as hell, and he has a wit as sharp as a double-edged razor... but he's made it perfectly clear that this is a short-term thing. Three nights, tops, then we part like sexually satisfied grown-ups. I believe him when he says he can't love me. I'm not trying to fall in love, either. We get in. Get it on. Get the hell out. Done. Right? Right. The Submission Series has 7 books 1) Beg 2) Tease 3) Submit 4) Control 5) Burn 6) Resist 7) Sing You can also buy the bundled versions 1) Beg/Tease/Submit 2) Control/Burn/Resist 3) SingHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (3)
by J.K. Rowling
A special new edition in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, with a stunning new cover illustration by Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick. For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts... he's at Hogwarts." Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may be a traitor in their midst. This gorgeous new edition in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone features a newly designed cover illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick, as well as the beloved original interior decorations by Mary GrandPré.Shantaram
by Gregory David Roberts
Having escaped an Australian maximum security prison, a disillusioned man loses himself in the slums of Bombay, where he works for a drug mafia kingpin, smuggles arms for a crime lord, forges bonds with fellow exiles, and finds love with an elusive woman. A first novel. Reprint.Votes: 2
The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by French author Alexandre Dumas. Completed in 1844, it is one of the author's most popular works. The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean, and in the Levant during the historical events of 1815-1838. It begins from just before the Hundred Days period (when Napoleon returned to power after his exile) and spans through to the reign of Louis-Philippe of France. The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book. An adventure story primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy and forgiveness, it focuses on a man who is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes from jail, acquires a fortune and sets about getting revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment. However, his plans have devastating consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty.Votes: 2
The Goldfinch
by Donna Tartt
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014 Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, and down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph - a sweeping story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity and fate.Votes: 2
The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern
Votes: 2
The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The international bestseller and modern classic - over 20 million copies sold worldwide 'Shadow is the real deal, a novel full of cheesy splendour and creaking trapdoors, a novel where even the subplots have subplots. One gorgeous read' STEPHEN KING 'An instant classic' DAILY TELEGRAPH The Shadow of the Wind is a stunning literary thriller in which the discovery of a forgotten book leads to a hunt for an elusive author who may or may not still be alive... Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'Cemetery of Lost Books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from the book, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind... A SUNDAY TIMES bestseller and Richard & Judy book club choice.Valley of the Dolls 50th Anniversary Edition
by Jacqueline Susann
The 50th Anniversary Edition of Jacqueline Susann's All-Time Pop-Culture Classic At a time when women were destined to become housewives, Jacqueline Susann let us dream. Anne, Neely, and Jennifer become best friends as struggling young women in New York City trying to make their mark. Eventually, they climb their way to the top of the entertainment industry only to find that there s no place left to go but down, into the "Valley of the Dolls." "A Wonderful Guy
by Eddie Shapiro
Fascinating, never-before-published interviews with Broadway's leading men offer behind-the-scenes looks at the careers of some of the most beloved perfomers today. In A Wonderful Guy, a follow up to Nothing Like a Dame: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater, theatre journalist Eddie Shapiro sits down for intimate, career-encompassing conversations with nineteen of Broadway's most prolific and fascinating leading men. Full of detailed stories and reflections, his conversations with such luminaries as Joel Grey, Ben Vareen, Norm Lewis, Gavin Creel, Cheyenne Jackson, Jonathan Groff and a host of others dig deep into each actor's career; together, these chapters tell the story of what it means to be a leading man on Broadway over the past fifty years. Alan Cumming described Nothing Like a Dame, as "an encyclopedia of modern musical theatre via a series of tender meetings between a diehard fan and his idols. Because of Eddie Shapiro's utter guilelessness, these women open up and reveal more than they ever have before, and we get to be the third guest at each encounter." A Wonderful Guy brings more fly-on-the-wall opportunities for fans to savour, students to study, and even the unindoctrinated to understand the life of the performing artist.Votes: 1
All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr
A cloth bag containing 20 paperback copies of the title that may also include a folder with sign out sheets.A General Theory of Oblivion
by Jose Eduardo Agualusa
WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2017 A finalist for the Man Booker International Prize 2016 The brilliant new novel from the winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. On the eve of Angolan independence, Ludo bricks herself into her apartment, where she will remain for the next thirty years. She lives off vegetables and pigeons, burns her furniture and books to stay alive and keeps herself busy by writing her story on the walls of her home. The outside world slowly seeps into Ludo’s life through snippets on the radio, voices from next door, glimpses of a man fleeing his pursuers and a note attached to a bird’s foot. Until one day she meets Sabalu, a young boy from the street who climbs up to her terrace.Votes: 1
Airborn
by Kenneth Oppel
Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . . Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter that he realizes that the man's ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious. In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
Now a STARZ® Original Series produced by FremantleMedia North America starring Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Emily Browning, and Pablo Schreiber. Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life. But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and a rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself. Life as Wednesday’s bodyguard, driver, and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined. Soon Shadow learns that the past never dies . . . and that beneath the placid surface of everyday life a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and that he is standing squarely in its path. “Mystery, satire, sex, horror, poetic prose—American Gods uses all these to keep the reader turning the pages.”—Washington PostAngry God
by L.J. Shen
"Mother. Of. All. Angst. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is rip-your-hair-out frustrating and full of depth and emotion." - Lana, DG Romance.From #1 Amazon Bestseller L.J. Shen comes a new, angsty standalone new adult novel about first love, second chances, and overcoming breathtaking losses at a young age.Vaughn Spencer. They call him an angry god. To me, he is nothing but a heartless prince. His parents rule this town, its police, every citizen and boutique on Main Street. All I own is a nice, juicy grudge against him for that time he almost killed me. Between hooking up with a different girl every weekend, breaking hearts, noses and rules, Vaughn also finds the time to bully little ole' me. I fight back, tooth and nail, never expecting him to chase me across the ocean after we graduate high school. But here he is, living with me in a dark, looming castle on the outskirts of London. A fellow intern. A prodigal sculptor. A bloody genius. They say this place is haunted, and it is. Carlisle Castle hides two of our most awful secrets. Vaughn thinks he can kill the ghosts of his past, but what he doesn't know? It's my heart he's slaying.Antarctic Navigation
by Elizabeth Arthur
The dazzling landscape central to this multifaceted tale of adventure and aspiration is the white Antarctic vastness known as the Ice. An expedition to the South Pole led by young American woman , Morgan Lamont is haunted by the tragic journey eight years earlier, by British explorer Robert Falcon Scott.The Art of Lying
by Sally Fairfax
Get what you WANT in life! DESTROY competition! Get AHEAD of the game! Everyone lies. Learn to do it the right way. Why get your juices flowing on things like honesty, integrity, and authentic, non-superficial relationships when you can lie and cheat your way through all of it and have a great chance of freedom, gratification, and chance for moral or immoral success? This game-changing guide is for aspiring con-artists who want to shake up their routine and embrace a powerful new approach to hoodwinking, swindling, fooling, double-crossing, rooking, wheedling, coaxing, and above all sweet-talking your way into anything. Are you ready to LIE? You will learn: - Proper body language when lying. - Befriending the correct people/targets. - Learning to be better than Robin Hood himself! - Building genuine trust and rapport within targets. - Developing the image of an honest man/woman. - Covering your bum-bum! - Overcoming guilty feelings. - And much more! Click on "Look Inside" to Learn More!Votes: 1
Autobiography of a Yogi
by Yogananda (Paramahansa)
Bending the Universe
by Justin Wetch
Bending the Universe immerses readers in the beautifully, brutally honest poetry of Justin Wetch—an idealist disguised as a pessimist. Organized into five sections (Society, Love, Life, Personal, and Nature), this collection explores everything from diversity to body image, heartbreak to politics. Poems spring from each page in a voice that’s almost audible—and always thought-provoking.Birds Without Wings
by Louis de Bernieres
Set against the backdrop of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, Birds Without Wings traces the fortunes of one small community in south-west Anatolia - a town in which Christian and Muslim lives and traditions have co-existed peacefully for centuries. When war is declared and the outside world intrudes, the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed. Birds Without Wings is a novel about the personal and political costs of war, and about love: between men and women; between friends; between those who are driven to be enemies; and between Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty, and Ibrahim the Goatherd, who has courted her since infancy. Epic in sweep, intoxicating in its sensual detail, it is an enchanting masterpiece. 'A mesmerising patchwork of horror, humour and humanity' IndependentBurial Rites
by Hannah Kent
Inspired by a true story, Hannah Kent's Burial Rites was shortlisted for The Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, The Guardian First Book Award and The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards. In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnúsdóttir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of her lover. Agnes is sent to wait out her final months on the farm of district officer Jón Jónsson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderer in their midst, the family avoid contact with Agnes. Only Tóti, the young assistant priest appointed Agnes’s spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her. As the year progresses and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes’s story begins to emerge and with it the family’s terrible realization that all is not as they had assumed. Based on actual events, Burial Rites is an astonishing and moving novel about the truths we claim to know and the ways in which we interpret what we’re told. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland’s formidable landscape, in which every day is a battle for survival, and asks, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others? Burial Rites is perfect for fans of Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood and The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan.Votes: 1
Butter Honey Pig Bread
by Francesca Ekwuyasi
Longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize Spanning three continents, Butter Honey Pig Bread tells the interconnected stories of three Nigerian women: Kambirinachi and her twin daughters, Kehinde and Taiye. Kambirinachi believes that she is an Ogbanje, or an Abiku, a non-human spirit that plagues a family with misfortune by being born and then dying in childhood to cause a human mother misery. She has made the unnatural choice of staying alive to love her human family but lives in fear of the consequences of her decision. Kambirinachi and her two daughters become estranged from one another because of a trauma that Kehinde experiences in childhood, which leads her to move away and cut off all contact. She ultimately finds her path as an artist and seeks to raise a family of her own, despite her fear that she won’t be a good mother. Meanwhile, Taiye is plagued by guilt for what her sister suffered and also runs away, attempting to fill the void of that lost relationship with casual flings with women. She eventually discovers a way out of her stifling loneliness through a passion for food and cooking. But now, after more than a decade of living apart, Taiye and Kehinde have returned home to Lagos. It is here that the three women must face each other and address the wounds of the past if they are to reconcile and move forward. For readers of African diasporic authors such as Teju Cole and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Butter Honey Pig Bread is a story of choices and their consequences, of motherhood, of the malleable line between the spirit and the mind, of finding new homes and mending old ones, of voracious appetites, of queer love, of friendship, faith, and above all, family.The Cider House Rules
by John Irving
'The reason Homer Wells kept his name was that he came back to St Cloud's so many times, after so many failed foster homes, that the orphanage was forced to acknowledge Homer's intention to make St Cloud's his home.' Homer Wells' odyssey begins among the apple orchards of rural Maine. As the oldest unadopted child at St Cloud's orphanage, he strikes up a profound and unusual friendship with Wilbur Larch, the orphanage's founder - a man of rare compassion and an addiction to ether. What he learns from Wilbur takes him from his early apprenticeship in the orphanage surgery, to an adult life running a cider-making factory and a strange relationship with the wife of his closest friend...Cryptonomicon
by Neal Stephenson
A gripping and page-turning thriller that explores themes of power, information, secrecy and war in the twentieth century. From the author of the three-volume historical epic 'The Baroque Cycle' and Seveneves. In his legendary, sprawling masterpiece, Neal Stephenson hacks into the secret histories of nations and the private obsessions of men, decrypting with dazzling virtuosity the forces that shaped this century. In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - a mathematical genius and young Captain in the U.S. Navy - is assigned to Detachment 2702, an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists. Some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. Their mission is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. Waterhouse is flung into a cryptographic chess match against his German counterpart - one where every move determines the fate of thousands. In the present day, Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia where encrypted data can be stored and exchanged free of repression and scrutiny. Joining forces with the tough-as-nails Amy, Randy attempts tosecretly salvage a sunken Nazi submarine that holds the key to keeping the dream of a data haven afloat. But their scheme brings to light a massive conspiracy with its roots in Detachment 2702 - and an unbreakable Nazi code called Arethusa. There are two ways this could go: towards unimaginable riches and a future of personal and digital liberty - or towards a totalitarian nightmare... Profound and prophetic, hypnotic and hyperactive, Cryptonomicon is a work of great art, thought and creative daring, the product of a ingenious imagination working with white-hot intensity.The Culture Code
by Daniel Coyle
"A toolkit for building a cohesive, innovative and successful group culture, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code. Daniel Coyle spent three years researching the question of what makes a successful group tick, visiting some of the world's most productive groups--including Pixar, Navy SEALs, Zappos, IDEO, and the San Antonio Spurs. Coyle discovered that high-performing groups relentlessly generate three key messages that enable them to excel: 1) Safety - we are connected. 2) Shared Risk - we are vulnerable together. 3) Purpose - we are part of the same story. Filled with first-hand reporting, fascinating science, compelling real-world stories, and leadership tools that can apply to businesses, schools, sports, families, and any kind of group, The Culture Code will revolutionize how you think about creating and sustaining successful groups"--Votes: 1
Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance and bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles—and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon)
by Dan Brown
For the first time, all four Robert Langdon thrillers are now available as one ebook bundle. If you haven't read a Dan Brown yet, now's the time. ANGELS AND DEMONS The countdown to oblivion has started - who will stop the clock? A famous scientist is found dead, a mysterious symbol burned into his skin. Many miles away in Rome, the world’s cardinals gather to elect a new pope. Little do they know that beneath their feet, a vast bomb has started to tick. Professor Robert Langdon must work out the link between these two seemingly unconnected events if he is stop the Vatican being blown sky high. THE DA VINCI CODE The race to uncover the oldest secret has begun . . . An eminent man is brutally murdered in the world’s most famous museum. Around his body are a ring of codes, hastily drawn in blood. He died to protect a long-kept secret which Professor Robert Langdon must now uncover. It will be a race against time to decipher this final message. Can he get there before the killers do? THE LOST SYMBOL To save a life, you must first crack the code . . . A mysterious invitation brings Professor Robert Langdon to Washington DC. But all is not as it seems in this powerful city. An ancient organization plans to reassert itself. And he is the only man standing in its way. If he is to prevent a terrible plan being executed, Langdon must decipher a series of increasingly bloody clues. But first he has to make sure he stays alive . . . INFERNO The world is in danger - who will save it? Robert Langdon wakes up in a Florence hospital with no clue how he got there. But another attack on his life makes it very clear – someone wants him dead. And fast. To survive, Langdon must work out who it is. And then he must answer the next question – why?Deadly Vows
by Haley Stuart
Marriage—it’s all about love and understanding and being with each other for the rest of your days. For Elise, it means something entirely different. Thrown into a marriage on her father’s orders, Elise isn’t prepared to be married to the man known as Luca Pasquino. Luca is the next capo in line to take over his father’s empire with an iron fist. He’s cruel, he’s evil, and he’s ready to destroy anything and anyone that gets in the way of his plans for complete control. Elise has no idea what is in store for her. All she knows is that she can try to survive her life for the rest of her days with Luca. Update from author: I'm listening! In my zeal to tell my story, I relied on the expertise of others to ensure it went from my head to the printed page, which didn't go exactly as planned. Deadly Vows has now been re-edited to ensure the grammar and punctuation are now as they should be. Enjoy!The Devil in the White City
by Erik Larson
'An irresistible page-turner that reads like the most compelling, sleep defying fiction' TIME OUT One was an architect. The other a serial killer. This is the incredible story of these two men and their realization of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and its amazing 'White City'; one of the wonders of the world. The architect was Daniel H. Burnham, the driving force behind the White City, the massive, visionary landscape of white buildings set in a wonderland of canals and gardens. The killer was H. H. Holmes, a handsome doctor with striking blue eyes. He used the attraction of the great fair - and his own devilish charms - to lure scores of young women to their deaths. While Burnham overcame politics, infighting, personality clashes and Chicago's infamous weather to transform the swamps of Jackson Park into the greatest show on Earth, Holmes built his own edifice just west of the fairground. He called it the World's Fair Hotel. In reality it was a torture palace, a gas chamber, a crematorium. These two disparate but driven men are brought to life in this mesmerizing, murderous tale of the legendary Fair that transformed America and set it on course for the twentieth century . . .Dirkbell
by Robert Sherriff
Dirkbell is the first book in an illustrated series by Robert Sherriff that explores imagination, kindness and community using charming characters that inhabit the woods. Squirrel and family man, Dirkbell likes the easy life with his wife and young children. But Cooper, the brown terrier, is spending his days barking and disturbing all the neighbours in the woods. Dirkbell just can't get any peace, so he decides to take matters into his own hands...Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
by Rebecca Wells
“A big, blowzy romp through the rainbow eccentricities of three generations of crazy bayou debutantes.” —Atlanta Journal-Constitution “A very entertaining and, ultimately, deeply moving novel about the complex bonds between mother and daughter.” —Washington Post “Mary McCarthy, Anne Rivers Siddons, and a host of others have portrayed the power and value of female friendships, but no one has done it with more grace, charm, talent, and power than Rebecca Wells.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch The incomparable #1 New York Times bestseller—a book that reigned at the top of the list for an remarkable sixty-eight weeks—Rebecca Wells’s Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a classic of Southern women’s fiction to be read and reread over and over again. A poignant, funny, outrageous, and wise novel about a lifetime friendship between four Southern women, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood brilliantly explores the bonds of female friendship, the often-rocky relationship between mothers and daughters, and the healing power of humor and love, in a story as fresh and uplifting as when it was first published a decade and a half ago. If you haven’t yet met the Ya-Yas, what are you waiting for?Ender's Game (The Ender Quintet)
by Orson Scott Card
From New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game is the classic Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction novel of a young boy's recruitment into the midst of an interstellar war. In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives. Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel. THE ENDER UNIVERSE Ender Quintet series Ender’s Game / Ender in Exile / Speaker for the Dead / Xenocide / Children of the Mind Ender’s Shadow series Ender’s Shadow / Shadow of the Hegemon / Shadow Puppets / Shadow of the Giant / Shadows in Flight Children of the Fleet The First Formic War (with Aaron Johnston) Earth Unaware / Earth Afire / Earth Awakens The Second Formic War (with Aaron Johnston) The Swarm /The Hive Ender novellas A War of Gifts /First MeetingsEnglish, August
by Upamanyu Chatterjee
Agastya Sen, known to friends by the English name August, is a child of the Indian elite. His friends go to Yale and Harvard. August himself has just landed a prize government job, which takes him to Madna - a town with the highest temperatures in India - deep in the sticks. There he finds himself surrounded by incompetents and cranks, time wasters, bureaucrats, and crazies. What to do? Get stoned, shirk work, collapse in the heat, stare at the ceiling. Dealing with the locals turns out to be much easier than living with himself. English, August is a comic masterpiece from contemporary India.Gangster
by Lorenzo Carcaterra
Love. Violence. Destiny. These powerful themes ricochet through Lorenzo Carcaterra’s new novel like bullets from a machine gun. In Gangster, he surpasses even his bestselling Sleepers to create a brutal and brilliant American saga of murder, forgiveness, and redemption. Born in the midst of tragedy and violence and raised in the shadow of a shocking secret, young Angelo Vestieri chooses to flee both his past and his father to seek a second family—the criminals who preside over early 20th century New York. In his bloody rise from soldier to mob boss, he encounters ever more barbaric betrayals—in friendship, in his brutal business, in love—yet simultaneously comes to understand the meaning of loyalty, the virtue of relationships, and gains a perspective on the lonely, if powerful, life he has chosen. As the years pass, as enemies are made and defeated, as wars are fought and won, the old don meets an abandoned boy who needs a parent as much as protection. By taking Gabe under his wing and teaching him everything he knows, Angelo Vestieri will learn, in the winter of his life, which is greater: his love for the boy he cherishes, or his need to be a gangster and to live by the savage rules he helped create. A sweeping panoramic with riveting characters, a unique understanding of the underworld philosophy, and a relentless pace, Gangster travels through the time of godfathers and goodfellas to our own world of suburban Sopranos. But this is more than just an authentic chronicle of crime. Setting a new standard for this acclaimed author, Gangster is a compassionate portrait of one man's fight against his fate—and an unforgettable epic of a family, a city, a century.House of Sand and Fog
by Andre Dubus III
When Kathy, a young recovering alcoholic recently separated from her husband, fails to a open a series of tax letters that have been sent to her in error, the State of California seizes the house she and her brother have inherited from her father. The State sells the house at auction to Behrani, a former Iranian Air Force officer. Unable to parley his skills into a job in aerospace in the US, the house represents an entry into real estate and a passport to the future of his family and his own version of the American Dream. For Kathy, its loss is the last of a series of insults life has dealt her. When she becomes involved with a married policeman who takes up her cause, the stage is set for a gut-wrenching tragedy.I Know This Much Is True
by Wally Lamb
With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.Invisible Cities
by Italo Calvino
“Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.” — from Invisible Cities In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo — Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts his host with stories of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. As Marco Polo unspools his tales, the emperor detects these fantastic places are more than they appear. “Invisible Cities changed the way we read and what is possible in the balance between poetry and prose . . . The book I would choose as pillow and plate, alone on a desert island.” — Jeanette WintersonJaws
by Peter Benchley
"Relentless terror." The Philadelphia Inquirer.The classic, blockbuster thriller of man-eating terror that inspired the Steven Spielberg movie and made millions of beachgoers afraid to go into the water. Experience the thrill of helpless horror again -- or for the first time!From the Paperback edition.Votes: 1
Life of Pi
by Yann Martel
MORE THAN SEVEN MILLION COPIES SOLD The beloved and bestselling novel and winner of the Booker Prize, Life of Pi. New York Times Bestseller * Los Angeles Times Bestseller * Washington Post Bestseller * San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller * Chicago Tribune Bestseller "A story to make you believe in the soul-sustaining power of fiction."—Los Angeles Times Book Review After the sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a wounded zebra, an orangutan—and a 450-pound royal bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and beloved works of fiction in recent years. Universally acclaimed upon publication, Life of Pi is a modern classic.Little House on the Prairie Series 7 Books Collection by Laura Ingalls Wilder
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little House on the Prairie is an autobiographical children's novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1935] It was the third novel published in the Little House series, continuing the story of the first, Little House in the Big Woods (1932), but not directly related to the second, Farmer Boy (1933). It chronicles the months the Ingalls spent on the Kansas prairie around the town of Independence.Votes: 1
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a dystopian classic: 'exciting, relevant and thought-provoking' (Stephen King). When a group of schoolboys are stranded on a desert island, what could go wrong? 'One of my favorite books - I read it every couple of years.' (Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games) A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, they discover fantastic wildlife and dazzling beaches, learning to survive; at night, they are haunted by nightmares of a primitive beast. Orphaned by society, it isn't long before their innocent childhood games devolve into a savage, murderous hunt ... 'Stands out mightily in my memory ... Such a strong statement about the human heart.' (Patricia Cornwell) 'Terrifying and haunting.' (Kingsley Amis) 'Beautifully written, tragic and provocative.' (E. M. Forster) ONE OF THE BBC'S ICONIC 'NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD' What readers are saying: 'Every real human being should read this ... This is what we are.' 'It's brilliant, it's captivating, it's thought provoking and brutal and for some, its truly terrifying.' 'It can be read and re-read many times, and every time something new will appear.' 'There is a reason why this is studied at school ... Excellent read.' 'This is one of the few books I've read that I keep on my Kindle to read again.' 'I revisit this every few years and it's always fresh and impressive ... One of the best books I've ever read.'Middlemarch (Penguin Classics)
by George Eliot
Considered one the masterpieces of realist fiction, George Eliot's novel, Middlemarch- A Study of Provincial Life, explores a fictional nineteenth-century Midlands town in the midst of modern changes. The quiet drama of ordinary lives and flawed choices are played out in the complexly portrayed central characters of the novel-the idealistic Dorothea Brooke; the ambitious Dr. Lydgate; the spendthrift Fred Vincy; and the steadfast Mary Garth. The appearance of two outsiders further disrupts the town's equilibrium-Will Ladislaw, the spirited nephew of Dorothea's husband, the Rev. Edward Casaubon, and the sinister John Raffles, who threatens to expose the hidden past of one of the town's elite.Midnight Sun
by Stephenie Meyer
#1 bestselling author Stephenie Meyer makes a triumphant return to the world of Twilight with this highly anticipated companion: the iconic love story of Bella and Edward told from the vampire's point of view. When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella's side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward's version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun. This unforgettable tale as told through Edward's eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward's past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger? In Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer transports us back to a world that has captivated millions of readers and brings us an epic novel about the profound pleasures and devastating consequences of immortal love. An instant #1 New York Times BestsellerAn instant #1 USA Today BestsellerAn instant #1 Wall Street Journal BestsellerAn instant #1 IndieBound BestsellerApple Audiobook August Must-Listens Pick "People do not want to just read Meyer's books; they want to climb inside them and live there." -- Time "A literary phenomenon." -- New York TimesNorwegian Wood
by Haruki Murakami
When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire - to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.Votes: 1
Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck
The tragic story of the friendship between two migrant workers, George and mentally retarded Lenny, and their dream of owning a farmDeath Dive (Omega Sub)
by J. D. Cameron
Hot Straight and Normal is a submarine bibliography with over 6000 references to books, videos, articles and Internet sources. It is designed to assist reseachers, historians, students, teachers, collectors and others with an interest in submarines, their history, construction and use in wars worldwide. It's unique format of listing the books by title, will assists the researcher and casual reader alike in finding or searching for familiar words and subjects. Fiction book titles are also included. Each listing contains title, author, date published, publisher, page count, ISBN number and other informative descriptions if known. This is the only submarine bibliography currently in publication. The article index includes all articles in all issues of Naval Submarine League’s Submarine Review and Naval Institute’s Naval Proceedings magazine. There are Web sites and other Internet sources listed and even information on obtaining more information through the Freedom of Information Act. Also included is how to find materials inside government archives. Collected and edited by a former U.S. submariner and member of U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc.The Richest Man In Babylon - Original Edition
by George S Clason
The Richest Man in Babylon, based on "Babylonian parables", has been hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth. In simple language, these fascinating and informative stories set you on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys. A celebrated bestseller, it offers an understanding and a solution to your personal financial problem. Revealed inside are the secrets to acquiring money, keeping money, and making money earn more money. Gold Edition includes bonus material: The Magic Story by Frederick Van Dey. The Magic Story: My task is done. I have written the recipe for "success." If followed, it cannot fail. Wherein I may not be entirely comprehended, the plus-entity of whosoever reads will supply the deficiency; and upon that Better Self of mine, I place the burden of imparting to generations that are to come, the secret of this all-pervading good, - the secret of being what you have it within you to be. It is claimed that many who read or hear this story almost immediately begin to have good fortune - so it is worth a few minutes of your time to find out if it works for you?Satan Wants Me (Dedalus Hall of Fame)
by Robert Irwin
Satan Wants Me is a novel for anyone who wants to know what it was like to be young in the 1960s ... amphetamines, weird sex and Devil-worship. '... the Lodge requires him to find a new partner, and they make him fill in the dating agency form that leads to Maud, one of the more memorable characters in recent fiction. Peter's initial contempt for Maud as a straight and boring hairdresser soon gives way to a kinky menage a trois, in which Sally eagerly dons a dog collar and frilly apron and has herself tattoed with the words 'I am Sally, the slave of Maud and Peter'. So extraordinary is Maud, in fact, that she has more than a little to do with the title of the book...... No doubt this contributes to the feel of Satan Wants Me as something to relish and curl up with, capable of inducing sensations rarely felt by people who have to read novels as work. With darkness outside and a drink to hand, I lay back on the sofa in the happy knowledge that I still had half of the book to go. Ah yes, I thought. This is the life.' Phil Baker in The Times Literary Supplement 'Irwin is a writer of immense subtlety and craftmanship, and offers us a vivid and utterly convincing portrait of life on the loopier fringes of the Sixties. Satan Wants Me is black, compulsive and very, very funny.' Christopher Hart in The Daily Telegraph 'Irwin's writing is witty and scabrous but it is also subtle in a way that keeps catching the reader out. The blend of the fantastical with the philosophical has been the defining characteristic of Irwin's fiction and in Peter's drug-drenched, satan-haunted diary, it has found its perfect expression.' Tom Holland in The New Statesman & Society 'Part of the book's fertile comedy stems from the ironic interweaving of the jargons of sociology, hippiedom and magick. It is hard to resist a pot-head mystic who hopes the Apocalypse will come on Wednesday because it will break up the week.' Tom Deveson in The Sunday TimesShe's Come Undone
by Wally Lamb
Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the chocolate, crisps and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up. In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch an incredible ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. At once a fragile girl and a hard-edged cynic, so tough to love yet so inimitably loveable, Dolores is as poignantly real as our own imperfections.Shibumi
by Trevanian
Forced out of retirement, a reluctant assassin must face his most dangerous enemy. Nicolai Hel is a westerner brought up in Japan and is the protégé of a Japanese Go master. Hel survived the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world's most artful lover and its most accomplished assassin. Hel is a genius, a mystic, and a master of language and culture, and his secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection known only as shibumi. Now living in an isolated mountain fortress, Hel is unwillingly drawn back into the life he'd tried to leave behind when a beautiful young stranger arrives at his door, seeking help and refuge. It soon becomes clear that Hel is being tracked by a deadly force -- a sinister organisation known only as the Mother Company. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side, and on the other . . .shibumi.Siddhartha
by Hermann Hesse
Siddhartha is an allegorical novel by Hermann Hesse which deals with the spiritual journey of an Indian boy called Siddhartha during the time of the Buddha. The book was written in German, in a simple, yet powerful and lyrical style. It was first published in 1922, after Hesse had spent some time in India in the 1910s. The story revolves around a young man who leaves his home and family on a quest for the Truth. Embarking on a journey that takes him from the austerities of renunciation to the profligacy of wealth. That leads him through the range of human experiences from hunger and want, to passion, pleasure, pain, greed, yearning, boredom, love, despair and hope. A journey that leads finally to the river, where he gains peace and eventually wisdom. This is the story of Siddhartha as told by Nobel Laureate Hermann Hesse in his most influential work.Swan Song
by Robert McCammon
New York Times Bestseller: A young girl’s visions offer the last hope in a postapocalyptic wasteland in this “grand and disturbing adventure” (Dean Koontz). A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick Swan is a nine-year-old Idaho girl following her struggling mother from one trailer park to the next when she receives visions of doom—something far wider than the narrow scope of her own beleaguered life. In a blinding flash, nuclear bombs annihilate civilization, leaving only a few buried survivors to crawl onto a scorched landscape that was once America. In Manhattan, a homeless woman stumbles from the sewers, guided by the prophecies of a mysterious amulet, and pursued by something wicked; on Idaho’s Blue Dome Mountain, an orphaned boy falls under the influence of depraved survivalists and discovers the value of a killer instinct; and amid the devastating dust storms on the Great Plains of Nebraska, Swan forms a heart-and-soul bond with an unlikely new companion. Soon they will cross paths. But only Swan knows that they must endure more than just a trek across an irradiated country of mutated animals, starvation, madmen, and wasteland warriors. Swan’s visions tell of a coming malevolent force. It’s a shape-shifting embodiment of the apocalypse, and of all that is evil and despairing. And it’s hell-bent on destroying the last hope of goodness and purity in the world. Swan is that hope. Now, she must fight not only for her own survival, but for that of all mankind. A winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a finalist for the World Fantasy Award, Swan Song has become a modern classic, called “a chilling vision that keeps you turning pages to the shocking end” by John Saul and “a long, satisfying look at hell and salvation” by Publishers Weekly.The After Collection (The After Series)
by Anna Todd
From the New York Times bestselling author and Wattpad sensation Anna Todd, “the biggest literary phenom of her generation” (Cosmopolitan), comes the complete collection of her sizzling After series—the inspiration behind the major motion picture After. After: Once she meets Hardin, good girl Tessa’s life will never be the same. He is rude, cocky, and the exact opposite of her reliable boyfriend back home—she should hate him, but then she finds herself alone with him one night. What follows is a passionate but tempestuous romance that turns Tessa’s usually calm and traditional world upside down. After We Collided: Tessa and Hardin’s tentative relationship takes a devastating turn when a dark secret from Hardin’s mysterious past surfaces. Can Tessa manage to move on and forge a new life for herself? Or will Hardin be able to change enough to win back his one true love? After We Fell: Hardin isn’t the only one with secrets. Everything Tessa thought she knew about her life goes up in smoke and she has no idea if Hardin will be willing to stay with her. Trapped in a seemingly unending cycle of jealousy and rage, neither has any idea if their passion is enough to keep their relationship alive. After Ever Happy: Each new challenge Tessa and Hardin face only makes their passionate bond stronger and stronger. But when a revelation about the past shakes Hardin’s impenetrable façade to the core—and then Tessa suffers a tragedy—will they stick together again or be torn apart? Before: The ups and downs of Tessa and Hardin’s relationship are explored by others in their lives before, during, and after the events of the series. Finally, Hardin reveals his own perception of his life with Tessa, which will completely change how you see the famous brooding boy and the angel who loved him.The Amber Room
by Steve Berry
Rachel Cutler loves her job and her kids, and remains civil to her ex-husband, Paul. But everything changes when her father dies under suspicious circumstances, leaving behind clues to a treasure called the Amber Room, one of the most intriguing mysteries of the last century. Desperate for the truth, Rachel takes off for Germany, with Paul close behind. Before long, they're in over their heads. Locked into a treacherous game with professional killers, Rachel and Paul find themselves on a collision course with the forces of greed, power and history itself...The Coldest Winter Ever
by Sister Souljah
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read. Renowned hip-hop artist, writer, and activist Sister Souljah brings the streets of New York to life in a powerful and utterly unforgettable first novel. I came busting into the world during one of New York's worst snowstorms, so my mother named me Winter. Ghetto-born, Winter is the young, wealthy daughter of a prominent Brooklyn drug-dealing family. Quick-witted, sexy, and business-minded, she knows and loves the streets like the curves of her own body. But when a cold Winter wind blows her life in a direction she doesn't want to go, her street smarts and seductive skills are put to the test of a lifetime. Unwilling to lose, this ghetto girl will do anything to stay on top. The Coldest Winter Ever marks the debut of a gifted storyteller. You will never forget this Winter's tale.The Color of Water
by James McBride
With a new Introduction to this touching homage to his mother, the author paints a portrait of growing up in a black neighborhood as the child of an interracial marriage. Although raised an Orthodox Jew in the South, McBride's mother abandoned her heritage, moved to Harlem, and married a black man.The Complete Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi
Collects a groundbreaking two-part graphic memoir, in which the great-granddaughter of Iran's last emperor and the daughter of ardent Marxists describes growing up in Tehran, a country plagued by political upheaval and vast contradictions between public and private life. Original. 50,000 first printing.The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery
Renée is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building, home to members of the great and the good. Over the years she has maintained her carefully constructed persona as someone reliable but totally uncultivated, in keeping, she feels, with society's expectations of what a concierge should be. But beneath this façade lies the real Renée: passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives. Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Renée lives resigned to her lonely lot with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever.The Fairytale Of America’s Butterfly
by Andre L. Simmons
During my early childhood, I've always been ridiculed in regards of my sexuality, by family members, people from my neighborhood, schools, and jobs. I was determined not to be that way, especially after the treatment that I witnessed of people that were special like me endured. Becoming a boyfriend at the age of 18 to a girl, who became my wife at the age of 24, and the mother of my son Jamari and daughter J'Adora, still wasn't enough to assassinate my true self. We separated at the age of 27, however growing up in the closet was only the beginning of my journey. Who knew being a single full-time father, living my truth within the gay community, would become of the hardest battle of all?The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once. Despite the tumour-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten. Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. Praise for The Fault in Our Stars: Sunday Times (Culture) 'A touching, often fiercely funny novel' The Sun on Sunday (Fabulous Magazine) 'So good I think it should be compulsory reading for everyone!' Daily Express 'John Green brilliantly captures the voices of a young generation while instilling it with the wisdom of a life that has lived too much yet will never live enough' The Metro - 2013 Best Fiction 'The love affair of two terminally ill teenagers could be mawkish. In fact, it's funny, clever, irreverent and life-affirming.' Grazia 'So good!' Good Housekeeping 'As funny as it is heartbreaking... we defy you not to fall in love with its main characters, Hazel and Augustus.' The Tablet 'A humourous and poignant love story... It's terrifically funny... as well as a moving exploration of loss and grief. And no, it's so much not just for teenage cancer sufferers... it's for everyone.' Bliss 'If you need inspiration when it comes to making the most of a moment, this one is for you' Mizz 'Insightful, bold, irreverent and raw, if this doesn't make you cry, it'll definitely make you think, laugh and maybe even fall in love yourself!'Flowers in the Attic
by V.C. Andrews
Celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the enduring gothic masterpiece Flowers in the Attic—the unforgettable forbidden love story that earned V.C. Andrews a fiercely devoted fan base and became an international cult classic. At the top of the stairs there are four secrets hidden—blond, innocent, and fighting for their lives… They were a perfect and beautiful family—until a heartbreaking tragedy shattered their happiness. Now, for the sake of an inheritance that will ensure their future, the children must be hidden away out of sight, as if they never existed. They are kept in the attic of their grandmother’s labyrinthine mansion, isolated and alone. As the visits from their seemingly unconcerned mother slowly dwindle, the four children grow ever closer and depend upon one another to survive both this cramped world and their cruel grandmother. A suspenseful and thrilling tale of family, greed, murder, and forbidden love, Flowers in the Attic is the unputdownable first novel of the epic Dollanganger family saga. The Dollanganger series includes: Flowers in the Attic, Petals in the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, Garden of Shadows, Beneath the Attic, and Out of the Attic.The Fountainhead
by Ayn Rand
The revolutionary literary vision that sowed the seeds of Objectivism, Ayn Rand's groundbreaking philosophy, and brought her immediate worldwide acclaim. This modern classic is the story of intransigent young architect Howard Roark, whose integrity was as unyielding as granite...of Dominique Francon, the exquisitely beautiful woman who loved Roark passionately, but married his worst enemy...and of the fanatic denunciation unleashed by an enraged society against a great creator. As fresh today as it was then, Rand’s provocative novel presents one of the most challenging ideas in all of fiction—that man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress... “A writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly...This is the only novel of ideas written by an American woman that I can recall.”—The New York TimesVotes: 1
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson
An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel. Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.The Girls
by Lori Lansens
I have never looked into my sister's eyes. I have never bathed alone. I have never stood in the grass at night and raised my arms to a beguiling moon. I've never used an aeroplane bathroom. Or worn a hat. Or been kissed like that... So many things I've never done, but oh, how I've been loved. And, if such things were to be, I'd live a thousand times as me, to be loved so exponentially' In twenty-nine years, Rose Darlen has never spent a moment apart from her twin sister, Ruby. She has never gone for a solitary walk or had a private conversation. Yet, in all that time, she has never once looked into Ruby's eyes. Joined at the head, 'The Girls' (as they are known in their small town) attempt to lead a normal life, but can't help being extraordinary. Now almost thirty, Rose and Ruby are on the verge of becoming the oldest living craniopagus twins in history, but they are remarkable for a lot more than their unusual sisterly bond.Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
The first paperback edition of the glorious two-volume, full-color graphic novel adaptation of Neil Gaiman's #1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Medal–winning novel The Graveyard Book, adapted by P. Craig Russell and illustrated by an extraordinary team of renowned artists. Inventive, chilling, and filled with wonder, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book reaches new heights in this stunning adaptation, now in paperback. Artists Kevin Nowlan, P. Craig Russell, Tony Harris, Scott Hampton, Galen Showman, Jill Thompson, and Stephen B. Scott lend their own signature styles to create an imaginatively diverse and yet cohesive interpretation of Neil Gaiman's luminous novel. Volume One contains Chapter One through the Interlude, while Volume Two includes Chapter Six to the end.Votes: 1
The Great Believers
by Rebecca Makkai
WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS WINNER OF THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD - BARBARA GITTINGS LITERATURE AWARD FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES FICTION AWARD 'Stirring, spellbinding and full of life' Téa Obreht, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger's Wife In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup: bringing an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDs epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, he finds his partner is infected, and that he might even have the virus himself. The only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister. Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago epidemic, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways the AIDS crisis affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. Yale and Fiona's stories unfold in incredibly moving and sometimes surprising ways, as both struggle to find goodness in the face of disaster.The Incredible Journey
by Sheila Burnford
'Only one thing was clear and certain - that at all costs he was going home, home to his own beloved master...’ The Hunter children must go abroad for the summer, so they reluctantly leave their three pets in the care of a friend. But the faithful animals only know they must get home again, somehow. So the labrador, the old bull terrier and the dainty Siamese cat set off on a perilous journey through the wilderness. But how will domestic animals fare against river rapids, hunger, icy temperatures and ferocious wild beasts? And if they make it home, will their owners be waiting for them? Includes exclusive material: In the Backstory you can find out about some incredible real-life pet adventures! Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch
'A phenomenon' SUNDAY TIMES A lot of professors give talks titled 'The Last Lecture'. Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave, 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams', wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humour, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
by Julie Andrews Edwards
The Whangdoodle was once the wisest, the kindest, and the most extraordinary creature in the world. Then he disappeared and created a wonderful land for himself and all the other remarkable animals -- the ten-legged Sidewinders, the little furry Flukes, the friendly Whiffle Bird, and the treacherous, "oily" Prock. It was an almost perfect place where the last of the really great Whangdoodles could rule his kingdom with "peace, love and a sense of fun"-- apart from and forgotten by people. But not completely forgotten. Professor Savant believed in the Whangdoodle. And when he told the three Potter children of his search for the spectacular creature, Lindy, Tom, and Ben were eager to reach Whangdoodleland. With the Professor's help, they discovered the secret way. But waiting for them was the scheming Prock, who would use almost any means to keep them away from his beloved king. Only by skill and determination were the four travelers able to discover the last of the really great Whangdoodles and grant him his heart's desire. Julie Andrews Edwards, star of stage and screen, has written a unique and beloved story that has become a modern classic. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles is sure to continue to delight readers everywhere. This edition includes a new foreword by the author.Votes: 1
The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
When a pilot finds himself alone and stranded with a broken-down plane, a little prince is his only companion living on a strange deserted planet. Full of wisdom, humour and delight, this book while intended for children is also a favourite of adults for its quirkiness and insight.The Member of the Wedding
by Carson McCullers
With delicacy of perception and memory, humour and pathos, Carson McCullers spreads before us the three phases of a weekend crisis in the life of a motherless twelve-year-old girl. Within the span of a few hours, the irresistible, hoydenish Frankie passionately plays out her fantasies at her elder brother's wedding. Through a perilous skylight we look into the mind of a child torn between her yearning to belong and the urge to run away.Votes: 1
The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?Votes: 1
The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
The Ragged Astronauts
by Bob Shaw
Land and Overland - twin worlds a few thousand miles apart. On Land, humanity faces a threat to its very survival - an airborne species, the ptertha, has declared war on humankind, and is actively hunting for victims. The only hope lies in migration. Through space to Overland. By balloon. The Ragged Astronauts - first volume in an epic adventure filled with memorable characters, intense action, engaging notions, exotic locales. Winner of the BSFA Award for best novel, 1986The Rapture of the Nerds
by Cory Doctorow
At the dusk of the twenty-first century, Welsh technophobe Huw is one of the billion or so hominids left on Earth, living in a preserve at the bottom of a gravity well. The rest have emigrated, uploading their consciousness to a vast cloud that fogs the inner solar system with a dust of molecular machinery, and occasionally spams Earth with plans for cataclysmically disruptive technologies. Wary of anything more sophisticated than his bicycle, Huw jumps at the chance to attend tech jury service and defend the Earth from the scum of the post-singularity patent office. But his long-awaited stint is cut short when he becomes infected with an itchy technovirus, and unwittingly becomes the last hope of the entire universe.The Red Tent
by Anita Diamant
In The Red Tent Anita Diamant brings the fascinating biblical character of Dinah to vivid life. Her name is Dinah. In the Bible her fate is merely hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the verses of the Book of Genesis that recount the life of Jacob and his infamous dozen sons. Anita Diamant's The Red Tent is an extraordinary and engrossing tale of ancient womanhood and family honour. Told in Dinah's voice, it opens with the story of her mothers – the four wives of Jacob – each of whom embodies unique feminine traits, and concludes with Dinah's own startling and unforgettable story of betrayal, grief and love. Deeply affecting and intimate, The Red Tent combines outstandingly rich storytelling with an original insight into women's society in a fascinating period of early history and such is its warmth and candour, it is guaranteed to win the hearts and minds of women across the world. 'I genuinely fell into this rich and colourful world and Dinah and Leah have stayed with me as ancestors and sisters brought to life by Anita Diamant's imaginative novel' - Maureen Lipman. Adapted as a TV mini series starring Rebecca Ferguson and Minnie Driver.The Six of Crows Duology Boxed Set
by Leigh Bardugo
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows duology - comprising Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom - is a gripping and memorable fantasy epic, perfect for fans of George R. R. Martin, Laini Taylor, and Holly Black. Read it before you see it! Set in the same world as the stunning Shadow and Bone trilogy, characters in these books will be brought to life on-screen in the Netflix original series, Shadow and Bone, coming soon! Six of Crows Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams - but he can't pull it off alone. A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction - if they don't kill each other first. Crooked Kingdom Double-crossed and badly weakened, Kaz's crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as Jurda Parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world. Read all the books in the Grishaverse! The Shadow and Bone Trilogy (previously published as The Grisha Trilogy) Shadow and Bone Siege and Storm Ruin and Rising The Six of Crows Duology Six of Crows Crooked Kingdom The King of Scars Duology King of Scars Rule of Wolves The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic The Lives of Saints Also available: Six of Crows: Collector's Edition Crooked Kingdom: Collector's Edition Shadow and Bone: Collector's Edition Praise for the Grishaverse "A master of fantasy." - The Huffington Post "Utterly, extremely bewitching." - The Guardian "The best magic universe since Harry Potter." - Bustle "This is what fantasy is for." - The New York Times Book Review "[A] world that feels real enough to have its own passport stamp." - NPR "The darker it gets for the good guys, the better." - Entertainment Weekly "Sultry, sweeping and picturesque . . . Impossible to put down." - USA Today "There's a level of emotional and historical sophistication within Bardugo's original epic fantasy that sets it apart." - Vanity Fair "Unlike anything I've ever read." - Veronica Roth, bestselling author of Divergent "Bardugo crafts a first-rate adventure, a poignant romance, and an intriguing mystery!" - Rick Riordan, bestselling author of the Percy Jackson seriesThe Slow Regard of Silent Things (Kingkiller Chronicle)
by Patrick Rothfuss
The University, a renowned bastion of knowledge, attracts the brightest minds to unravel the mysteries of enlightened sciences like artificing and alchemy. Yet deep below its bustling halls lies a complex and cavernous maze of abandoned rooms and ancient passageways - and in the heart of it all lives Auri. Formerly a student at the University, now Auri spends her days tending the world around her. She has learned that some mysteries are best left settled and safe. No longer fooled by the sharp rationality so treasured by the University, Auri sees beyond the surface of things, into subtle dangers and hidden names. At once joyous and haunting, THE SLOW REGARD OF SILENT THINGS is a rich, atmospheric and lyrical tale, featuring one of the most beloved characters from Rothfuss' acclaimed fantasy series.The Smart Money Woman
by Arese Ugwu
The Smart Money Woman—An African girl’s journey to financial freedom Meet Zuri. She’s living a fabulous life. Great car, gorgeous apartment, well paid job. Meet Zuri. Broken down car, an apartment she cant afford, a job she’s about to lose. What’s a broke girl to do? With her best friends Tami (the flighty fashion designer), Lara (the tough oil and gas executive), Adesuwa (the conservative lawyer), and Ladun (the fabulous housewife), Zuri grows a little, learns a lot and navigates her way to making better financial decisions and building wealth. This book tackles, debt, spending, the consumerist culture of the African middle class, the fear and misconceptions surrounding money and the lack of it, love, friendships, cultural and societal pressures and the roles they play in success. With each chapter comes a Smart Money Lesson, there to help you work your way up the financial ladder.The Street
by Ann Petry
With a new introduction by TAYARI JONES, author of An American Marriage and winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019 * As heard on BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime 'Ann Petry's first novel, The Street, was a literary event in 1946, praised and translated around the world - the first book by a black woman to sell more than a million copies . . . Her work endures not merely because of the strength of its message but its artistry' NEW YORK TIMES 'My favorite type of novel, literary with an astonishing plot . . . insightful, prescient and unputdownable' TAYARI JONES New York City, 1940s. In a crumbling tenement in Harlem, Lutie Johnson is determined to build a new life for herself and her eight-year-old boy, Bub - a life that she can be proud of. Having left her unreliable husband, Lutie believes that with hard work and resolve, she can begin again; she has faith in the American dream. But in her struggle to earn money and raise her son amid the violence, poverty and racial dissonance of her surroundings, Lutie is soon trapped: she is a woman alone, 'too good-looking to be decent', with predators at every turn.The Talisman
by Stephen King
A chilling tale from two of the greatest storytellers of our time... Twelve-year-old Jack spends his days alone in a deserted coastal town, his father gone, his mother dying. Then he meets a stranger - and embarks on a terrifying journey. For Jack must find the Talisman, the only thing that can save his mother. His quest takes him into the menacing Territories, a parallel world where violence, surprise and the titanic struggle between good and evil reach across a mythic landscape.The Tattooist of Auschwitz
by Heather Morris
The five million copy bestseller and one of the bestselling books of the 21st Century. Chosen for the Richard and Judy Bookclub. I tattooed a number on her arm. She tattooed her name on my heart. In 1942, Lale Sokolov arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival - scratching numbers into his fellow victims' arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust. Waiting in line to be tattooed, terrified and shaking, was a young girl. For Lale - a dandy, a jack-the-lad, a bit of a chancer - it was love at first sight. And he was determined not only to survive himself, but to ensure this woman, Gita, did, too. So begins one of the most life-affirming, courageous, unforgettable and human stories of the Holocaust: the love story of the tattooist of Auschwitz. Don't miss Heather Morris's next book, Stories of Hope. Coming September 2020. ----- 'Extraordinary - moving, confronting and uplifting . . . I recommend it unreservedly' Greame Simsion 'A moving and ultimately uplifting story of love, loyalties and friendship amidst the horrors of war . . . It's a triumph.' Jill Mansell 'A sincere . . . moving attempt to speak the unspeakable' Sunday TimesThe Tin Drum
by Günter Grass
To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of this classic, a new translation of the Nobel Prize winner's story is offered, which includes a huge cast of intriguing characters, including Oskar Matzerath, the indomitable drummer; his family; Oskar's midget friends Bebra and Roswitha Raguna; and more. Reprint.Votes: 1
The Water Dancer
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Full-Color Collector's Edition)
by C. S. Lewis
Four English school children find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist its ruler, the golden lion Aslan, in defeating the White Witch who has cursed the land with eternal winter.The Woman with the Bouquet
by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
In his new collection of stories, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, author of The Most Beautiful Book in the World, probes the paradox that the events that shape our lives are often the stuff of dreams, yet nonetheless true. Humor, tenderness, irony and exquisite writing have always been the hallmarks of Schmitt’s work. Here, he adds a pinch of philosophy. In one story, a lovelorn writer seeks refuge in Ostende, a remote and charming town on the North Sea. His host is a solitary and eccentric octogenarian. The fairy-tale setting starts to work its magic and the old woman begins to tell her tale—an extraordinary story of passion. Bewitched by what he hears, the writer can no longer distinguish what is real from what is not, and in the woman’s account he will finally find a response to his own deep-seated grief. Here, as in the other stories in this collection, Schmitt displays the combination of stylishness and insight into the human condition that prompted Kirkus Reviews to write of his tales that they “echo Maupassant’s with their lean narratives, surprise endings, mordant humor and psychological acuity.” An exceptional collection by one of Europe’s most beloved authors.Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
by Denise Grover Swank
The first book of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling series!"Though much of the book is light-hearted and occasionally outright hilarious, the author sneaks in a few home truths along the way that will hit you where it counts, like how even someone's best intentions can box you in." --Everybody Needs a Little Romance"This was one of those books that I kept telling myself one more page, then I need to put it down. Instead I found myself tearing through the book instead, needing to know the outcome." --Just Jump Book Reviews"A southern mystery full of romance and fun!" --Goodreads review****For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She's had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone's toilet's overflowed, but she's never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn't enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.Rose realizes she's wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She's well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won't help with number fifteen-- do more with a man. Joe's new to town, but it doesn't take a vision for Rose to realize he's got plenty secrets of his own. Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they'll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn't her biggest worry after all.Rose Gardner Mystery series Twenty-Eight and a Half WishesTwenty-Nine and a Half ReasonsThirty and a Half ExcusesFalling to Pieces (novella)Thirty-One and a Half RegretsThirty-Two and a Half ComplicationsPicking up the Pieces (novella)Thirty-Three and a Half ShenanigansRipple of Secrets (novella)Thirty-Four and a Half PredicamentsThirty-Five and a Half ConspiraciesThirty-Six and a Half MotivesSins of the Father (novella) Rose Gardner InvestigationsFamily JewelsTrailer Trash (Neely Kate companion book)For the BirdsHell in a HandbasketUsher's Passing
by Robert McCammon
Poe’s classic tale lives on in this gothic novel of ancestral madness in the mountains of modern-day North Carolina, from a New York Times–bestselling author. Ever since Edgar Allan Poe looted a family’s ignoble secret history for his classic story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” living in the shadow of that sick dynasty has been an inescapable scourge for generations of Usher descendants. But not for horror novelist Rix Usher. Years ago, he fled the isolated family estate of Usherland in the menacing North Carolina hills to pursue his writing career. He promised never to return. But his father’s impending death has brought Rix back home to assume the role of Usher patriarch—and face his worst fears. His arrival forces him to confront a devious and impassive family and his vulnerable sister’s slow descent into insanity. Stirring memories of the grim folktales born out of the surrounding Briartop Mountains and the terrifying legends of missing children, Rix knows that in the dark, twisted corridors of Usherland, that dreadful something he saw as a young boy is still there. It’s waiting for him, as decayed and undying as the Usher heritage, and more depraved than anything Poe could have imagined. This eerie novel by the Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Swan Song and Boy’s Life is “a frightening pleasure” and a worthy tribute to the master who inspired it (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).